Mid-Week Round Up: April 8

Last Thursday demonstrations were held across Canada demanding justice for Cindy Gladue, an Indigenous woman who was violently murdered in 2011. The man accused of murdering Gladue, Bradley Barton, was acquitted of all charges. The trial involved graphic details about the murder of Gladue. Writing for rabble.ca Christa Big Canoe looks at how the trial dehumanized Gladue’s body and life, “Most shockingly is not how Cindy died, although it should be. What is most horrific is that a Canadian court allowed the most intimate part of a woman’s body to be evidence in a jury trial.” Alberta prosecutors are currently appealing the decision to acquit Barton.

Michael T. Slager, a white South Carolina police officer, has been charged for the murder of Walter L. Scott, an unarmed African-American man. A video surfaced of Slager shooting Scott eight times. The video shows Slager picking up something 15 to 20 feet away from where Scott lay and placing it by his deceased body.

Workers in Nova Scotia recently saw a 20 cent increase in the province’s minimum wage. The increase, however, is not nearly adequate enough and workers are fighting for a fairer and higher minimum wage.

Fitness professionals working at GoodLife are attempting to unionize. GoodLife is the largest fitness centre chain in Canada.

Work by Erin Marie Konsmo, Media Arts Justice & Projects Coordinator of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network, was featured in Metro Edmonton. In 2012 Konsmo started to bead condoms. Reflecting on the beading, Konsmo says, “One of the key messages that we try and say is that [like condoms], culture is protection.”